Ukraine, allies clash over Poland missile in boost for Putin's war
Ukraine and President Joe Biden are openly clashing over who launched the missile that killed two in NATO member Poland, a potential boost for Vladimir Putin.
LONDON — In a rare display of public discord, Ukraine and its Western backers are openly clashing over who launched the missile that killed two civilians in Poland, a NATO member.
It may be the most significant rift so far between Ukraine and its supporters, including the United States, since Russia invaded and comes at a crucial moment as winter approaches with the Kremlin's forces in retreat.
Although the U.S. and its allies have called the incident an unfortunate accident, the starkly divergent takes on what likely took place threaten to undermine the united front that has helped Kyiv preserve staunch military and diplomatic support from the West throughout the nearly nine-month war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted “it was not our missile” that struck Polish farmland, a harrowing incident that raised the specter of NATO and its nuclear-armed members being dragged directly into the Kremlin’s war.
On national television Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he’d been briefed personally on the matter by the Ukrainian military leadership, adding: “I have no grounds to doubt them.”
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